Humble approves Safe Clear towing program at Thursday’s council meeting

By Kaila Contreras

Updated
2:29 pm CDT, Friday, July 13, 2018

The city of Humble approved a motion to join the Safe Clear tow program created by the city of Houston in 2004.

The city of Humble approved a motion to join the Safe Clear tow program created by the city of Houston in 2004.

Photo: Ben DeSoto, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Photo: Ben DeSoto, Staff / Houston Chronicle

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The city of Humble approved a motion to join the Safe Clear tow program created by the city of Houston in 2004.

The city of Humble approved a motion to join the Safe Clear tow program created by the city of Houston in 2004.

Photo: Ben DeSoto, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Humble approves Safe Clear towing program at Thursday’s council meeting

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With a unanimous vote the Humble City Council approved the Safe Clear Interlocal Agreement with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department to authorize non-consent towing on certain highways on Thursday.

“In short, Harris County and the Harris-Galveston Council have put together a program that provides free towing services for non-consent tows (such as) stalled vehicles, flat tires,” Humble City Manager Jason Stuebe said. “Get’s them off the roadway and they’ll do it for free. It’s all paid for through the agreement and there’s no cost to the city.”

In 2005, the City of Houston introduced the Safe Clear program to remove disabled vehicles from certain highways in the city.

According to the Texas Transportation Code 545.3051, Safe Clear requires law enforcement officials to authorize all vehicle tows “where the vehicle owner will not give permission for the vehicle to be removed from the roadway.”

“We currently provide service along (Highway) 59/69 and we do have to skip the City of Humble because there’s no agreement,” Humble Towing Service Owner Matt Teal said.

Council members also approved the renewal of the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District Interlocal Agreement for the Water Wise program for the 2018-19 school year.

“This an annual agreement that we have with them to sponsor educational programs at the elementary schools here in town and in return we get a credit to use groundwater. I’d say 4,000 gallons per student that is in the program. So it’s a good deal for us,” Stuebe said.

The Subsidence District has designed a program to increase water conservation awareness through the education of elementary students.

Formally known as “Be a Water Detective-Learning to be Water Wise,” it will allow students from Humble Elementary and Lakeland Elementary to utilize this program next school year.

The program will have 225 students and the city will pay $36.46 per student.

In other business, the council also approved the relocation of a traffic signal box at the intersection of Townsen Boulevard and Spring Creek Crossing.

Estimated at $49,441.82 the relocation was approved on the June 28 council meeting through a maintenance agreement.

The traffic signal box is moving to a higher elevation to help prevent future flooding damages. The box has been damaged by flooding at least three times.